Langevin's Train-the-Trainer Blog

About 7 years ago, I wrote a blog entitled, “The Game of Office Politics – Do you know how to play?" In it, I referenced a book by Dr. Lois Frankel called, “Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office: 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers.” In her book, Dr. Frankel suggests that women work too hard but don’t get promoted, purely because of that hard work. What else are we guilty of? We make our offices too girly and we don’t capitalize on work relationships. After all this time, I wondered, “Has anything changed?” Do women hold more leadership positions than before? Are we really breaking that glass ceiling and getting the corner office?

High-level positions often come with responsibilities, stress, and accountability. But, they also come with power and authority given through the position in the organization. This “given” power is crucial in negotiations, decision making, and influencing people and events.

So, you need a favor from me. What’s the best way to ask for it? Do you present me with facts and numbers? Do you use the model, “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine?” How about trying to charm me into saying, “yes?” Or do you get me excited about the idea? What if you have no authority or power? With so many options, what’s the best answer?

“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times...” Who knew that I’d be living the first line from Charles Dickens’ classic, A Tale of Two Cities? How could something so joyful be so stressful at the same time? Why do people fall apart instead of coming together? And how was I going to fix everything?

In business (and in your personal life) you may have the opportunity to use influencing skills to impact a decision that will help you accomplish a goal or objective. In these situations you need to influence the decision-maker and create an influencing strategy. Before you speak to the person you need to influence you may need to interact with several other people. Sometimes this process can seem like the “Who’s on First” routine by Abbot and Costello. Below are some items to consider when identifying who should come first in the influencing interactions.

I just watched the most inspirational video, narrated by Alan Watts, called, What if Money Didn’t Matter? The premise of the video is asking yourself the questions, “What would you like to do if money were no object? How would you really like to spend your life?” Unfortunately, most people don’t ask these questions and spend their lives doing things they don’t like. They earn money to keep doing what they don’t like and the cycle continues

In parts 1 and 2 of this three-part blog series, I discussed two of three influence styles proposed by John R. Hook in his book, The Agile Manager’s Guide to Influencing People—logic and common vision. The final influence style we’ll examine is called mutual participation.

In part 1 of this three-part blog series, I discussed the first of three influence styles proposed by John R. Hook in his book, The Agile Manager’s Guide to Influencing People—logic. The second influence style the author mentions is called common vision.

Remember when you were a kid and your mother wanted you to do something that you didn’t want to do? How did she respond when you asked her why you had to do it? She probably answered, “Because I said so, that’s why!” Well, that approach may have worked well for mom but it doesn’t work for trainers and training managers in the business world. Business people don’t give us want we want simply because we ask them for it, even if they do have the knowledge and expertise we require.